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Elicited beliefs and social information in modified dictator games: What do dictators believe other dictators do?

Author

Listed:
  • Nagore Iriberri
  • Pedro Rey-Biel
Abstract
We use subjects’ actions in modified dictator games to perform a within-subject classification of individuals into four different types of interdependent preferences: Selfish, Social Welfare maximizers, Inequity Averse and Competitive. We elicit beliefs about other subjects’ actions in the same modified dictator games to test how much of the existent heterogeneity in others’ actions is known by subjects. We find that subjects with different interdependent preferences in fact have different beliefs about others’ actions. In particular, Selfish individuals cannot conceive others being non-Selfish while Social Welfare maximizers are closest to the actual distribution of others’ actions. We finally provide subjects with information on other subjects’ actions and re-classify individuals according to their (new) actions in the same modified dictator games. We find that social information does not affect Selfish individuals, but that individuals with interdependent preferences are more likely to change their behavior and tend to behave more selfishly.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagore Iriberri & Pedro Rey-Biel, 2008. "Elicited beliefs and social information in modified dictator games: What do dictators believe other dictators do?," Economics Working Papers 1137, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1137
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Interdependent preferences; social welfare maximizing; inequity aversion; belief elicitation; social information; experiments; mixture-of-types models; LeeX;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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